Beacon of Hope
by Russellonfire
Summary: Amongst the ash and ruin of Vale, a lone figure walks, lost in thought, and sadness. As they think of the history that happened here, all that time ago, during the Fall of Beacon and Vale, their memories return. Set after season 3.
Beacon. The name brought many thoughts, images... memories to the mind. For some, a symbol of hope and happiness, a source of pride, a shining triumph in the face of all adversity. But for most, those memories had long since faded, and even the rose-tint of nostalgia could bring them to the fore no longer.

For most, it reminded them of the overwhelming obstacles stacked against humanity. The dark that they fought, and all too often lost against. Snarling, howling and above all, fearsome. The red eyes in the night, the white claws that crushed and impaled, the teeth... the teeth. The last sight of many a man or faunus. Few could say they had come against the creatures of grimm and lived; had not been returned to the dust from whence they came. Fewer still could claim to have won, or to have survived the Fall.

The Fall of Vale, and Beacon in turn had been nothing short of a massacre. The grimm killed thousands over a few short days, which only increased the fear felt by all. This in turn brought more grimm, and more fear, until there was nothing left to feel afraid. The fires raged throughout the city, filling it with smoke and ash, until they guttered out, having spent their fuel; the homes of the dead and fleeing. Buildings had collapsed, filling the air with dust which hung there even now, stirred by the slightest movement. It was choking, and served only as a reminder of the fallen, and the loss still felt by all, even in Vacuo, Mistral... even in Atlas.

A lone figure strode through the wreckage. His footfalls stirred the ash and dust into a heavy cloud that seemed to follow him as he walked. He wore thick boots, which did nothing to muffle his heavy steps. Black trousers led to a black top, the lack of colour fitting in this place. Over it all, he wore a long, leather duster. Originally a dark brown, it was now streaked with grey and black smears.

To shield him from the worst of the smog, his hood was pulled over his head, and a scarf covered his nose and mouth. Yellow tinted goggles covered his eyes, turning them a vivid green. As he strode through the filth, he cut a striking figure, more so when the slight wind send his duster flapping behind him. At his hip, he carried a simple sword, unlike many of his fellows.

He walked slowly, unafraid. His gaze was not the furtive glances that most would use in such a place, but slow, long, and above all deliberate gazes. His eyes were slightly glazed, as though he wasn't truly there, but instead somewhere else entirely; in the past.

They suddenly focused, as a slight scrape came from between the buildings. Black flashed through the gaps, and he thought of moving his hand to the hilt beside him. He decided against it; the movement was no threat yet, and he had no need to exert himself. He'd come this far without fighting, and if he truly needed to fight later, he would be better at full strength, than exhausted after chasing at nothing but shadows. He heard loud gunshots in the distance, from others in the city, probably hunters.

He started to move off again, but stopped as he felt something crushed beneath his boot. There was a solid crunch, like glass, so unlike the rubble that was the only ground found previously. He gently raised his foot to see the cause of the noise. A small, fractured square of glass, bordered with what was once white, but now, like everything in the area, was covered in a heavy layer of grey. He crouched, a gloved hand extending to the largest piece, with a golden diamond set in the white. Webs of cracks littered the screen, and recognition filled his eyes as he turned it over in his hand. He reached up to his scarf, and pulled it down to his neck, revealing a small, sad smile on his face, amongst old stubble growth. He turned the piece over, before sliding it into a pocket.

Memories were all they had these days, after all.

He stood, slowly, before looking into the distance with shining eyes, betraying his thoughts. He pulled down his hood, revealing unruly blonde hair, albeit shorter than he used to wear it. He lifted his goggles to his forehead, in a style much like the certain... man he'd copied them from. His deep blue eyes were displayed, glistening in the light of the shattered moon. Looking around him, the man saw what he came for. Lifting his gaze to the top of the ruinous Beacon tower, Jaune sighed, an odd expression on his face, and began to stride forward again.

* * *

The top of the tower was strewn with more rubble than even the burnt-out Vale. Stonework was strewn across what was once the floor of Ozpin's office, and huge, twisted gears of metal lay, creaking and whistling in the wind.

From one corner came a series of cracking noises, as smaller stones fell to the floor. Finally, a larger piece was pushed back, revealing Jaune's panting figure, standing at the top of a long, winding flight of stairs. He grunted at finally having reached the top, and slowly walked forward. All of Vale could be seen by standing at the edge, now exposed after the attack by the huge grimm that had caused so many of their problems. Jaune smirked as he thought back to a time shortly after he, Ruby, Nora and Ren had left Patch.

 _"It's a dragon!" Nora declared loudly, gesticulating wildly as she paced. "It's a huge flying lizard thing which roars! How can it not be a dragon?" Jaune sighed, and glanced at Ruby, who rolled her eyes with a slight smile. She was sat by the fire they had made, to keep the cold at bay in the night. Ren was close by, gazing into the fire, and saying little, as was his wont._

 _"It's got two legs. Its arms are wings. That just makes it a wyvern." Jaune countered, his voice quiet, arms crossed over his chest._

 _"Eurgh, why do you have to be so technical. Just say dragon!" Nora replied, exasperated._

 _"No. It's not right."_

 _"Only because you don't think so!"_

 _"I know so."_

 _"Says who?"_

 _"Dictionaries, usually."_

 _"Eurgh. Reeennn, back me up here!" She turned to the boy in green, hands on hips, leaning slightly forward and pouting at him. Ren looked up, his pink eyes meeting her sapphire ones, before shifting to look into the indigo of Jaune's. Jaune raised an eyebrow slightly. Ren looked back to the fire again._

 _"I think a wyvern is a type of dragon."_

 _Nora and Jaune stared at him. Then she launched her hands into the air, glee evident on her face._

 _"Thanks Ren, I knew I could count on you! In your face, vomit boy!" Nora exclaimed, pointing at Jaune, before proceeding to bounce around in glee._

 _Jaune sighed. "It was one time. I think that means we were both right, anyway."_

 _"Nyah, I was right!"_

 _Jaune gave a small smile, that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, I guess you were Nora." He crouched down to the fire, poking it slightly, and stirring embers into the air that swirled in the gentle breeze. He stood up, and started to walk off._

 _"Where are you going Jaune?" Ruby enquired. She knew what he'd say, but she always asked. So he'd know she was looking out for him._

 _"To train."_

Jaune stepped back from the edge of the tower. He walked past the remnants of Ozpin's desk, the electronics dead, and not even sparking. Jaune thought of all the information that had once passed though these screens, all the countless words and whispers that Ozpin looked through, constantly trying to gain the upper hand on their unseen enemy. He wished it could have helped more. Jaune glanced across to the twisted heap that was once Ozpin's chair. He smirked as he remembered some of Yang's less-than-savoury comments on the subject, before he resumed walking.

As he wandered closer to the centre, his boot scuffed something, sending it skittering with a metallic sound. He froze, immediately recognising the source of the noise. Crouching down once more, he picked up the bronze circlet... her circlet.

Jaune slumped against a rock, sliding down until he was sat there, one arm on a bent knee, his other leg straight out before him. He stared at the bronze jewellery he held, tilting it ever so slightly, the chains wobbling before him. It seemed like so long since he'd seen this. Months, years; it had blurred. It seemed like so long since he'd seen... her. He rubbed his lower lip, feeling a slight twitch. His hand dropped back to his side, while the other still held the circlet.

In a cracked, hollow voice, he spoke.

"Hey."

 _"To train."_

 _Ruby watched Jaune walk away, sharing a look between the remainder of the group. Even Nora's spirits seemed slightly dampened, and Ren's gaze crept back to the fire. Ruby looked down and sighed. Since the fall, Jaune had lost his spark. Not that she could blame him. Despite everything, he hadn't given up. He'd grown quieter than even Ren; the earlier conversation had been the most they'd heard from him on the journey so far. He didn't neglect them, but he still wasn't all there. She worried, they all did, but she knew she couldn't help him through this. She could only be there for him when he needed her._

 _Every day, he'd walk off like this, and spend hours going through forms and hacking at everything he could. All they'd hear were grunts, and groans, and heavy, panting breaths. No words of joy when he seemed to succeed, no exasperated comments when he seemingly missed his target. Just the sounds of a boy pushing himself as far as he could go. A few times, Ruby had sat off in the distance, watching his progress. She could see the muscles he'd developed, the stamina he'd built, by training for so long as often as he could. His improvements were admirable, but she was scared he was pushing too hard._

 _At first, Ruby thought the forms he spent so long on were random. The hacking certainly seemed to be, though she soon saw that was mostly for practising his strikes, making sure the edge of his sword always hit where and when he wanted it to. The forms though, they were special. Every sweep seemed deliberate, every movement of his sword and shield seemed to have a reason behind it. The longer she watched, the more sure of it she was. He was definitely pretending to fight an unseen opponent, one conjured from inside his head. She was still worried about Jaune though. Beating yourself into exhaustion was no way to move past grief; that much she knew from experience._

 _But the that night, when she watched him, she realised what he was doing. Those movements were familiar. Every twist, and block, was for fighting a more mobile opponent. One with versatility, and obviously skilled. When she saw Jaune seemingly fail in a strike, it looked more like it had been blocked, than that he'd missed. That was the confirmation she sought. He was fighting against someone who used a shield, and he had been every time she'd been there. Her worries lessened._

 _This wasn't Jaune exhausting himself to forget._

 _This was Jaune fighting to remember._

 _Ruby walked back to the camp they'd set up. Ren looked up from the pot he was stirring, and raised an eyebrow at her. Nora just had a querying look on her face. Ruby smiled._

 _"I think... he's gonna be fine. Just needs time."_

 _Ren and Nora looked confused, but then gave faint smiles. They trusted her judgement after all._

 _When Jaune returned from his imaginary battle, Ruby budged up on her log to give him room. He smiled in gratitude, and took a seat. Ruby handed him a bowl of the stew Ren had been tending earlier._

 _"Here. You've got to eat if you want to keep that up."_

 _Jaune looked at it, before taking it warily._

 _"Wasn't Ren..."_

 _"Yep. No algae though, I promise. Not after Nora told me what happened last time. He's pretty good, once he realises we don't hold with that health shtick."_

 _Jaune smiled at that, before taking a spoonful. After a doubtful look, he tried some, before quickly finishing the bowl._

 _Jaune sighed as he put it down. "Thanks, Ruby."_

 _"Don't mention it. Oh, before I forget, that whole wyvern or dragon thing... pretty sure that makes you wrong. You did say it WASN'T a dragon after all..." She said nonchalantly, before lifting her eyes to his face, and putting on a teasing grin._

 _Jaune gave her a frown, before it turned into another tired smile. "Shut up you."_

 _Ruby smiled wider at that, before looking back to the fire. Ren and Nora had long since curled up on their mats to sleep. Their hands were brushing slightly, but whether that meant anything, she'd never know. She sighed, and returned her eyes to Jaune._

 _"Jaune, I... I know this isn't easy. Any of it." Jaune's gaze was off into the distance. "But when you're ready, we're here... I'm here." Jaune still hadn't shifted his eyes. "I just want to make sure that you won't stop. That you won't give up. Because we won't give up on you." Jaune was still. Ruby sighed again. "Goodnight Jaune. Don't stay up too late." Ruby began to move off, to her sleeping mat._

 _"Ruby."_

 _Ruby stopped, and turned back. Jaune's eyes were still unfocussed, but then he shifted them to hers._

 _"If there's one thing I can promise you, it's that before this is all over... before we find them, and stop them... I will never give up."_

 _Ruby smiled at that, before turning away again, to go to sleep. As she closed her eyes, she heard him whisper something else._

 _"P... She wouldn't want me to give up. S..." He sighed in frustration. "P... Pyrrha... would want me to keep moving forward."_

"Hey. Hey Pyrrha. It's been a long time. I can never remember how long. It all kinda... blurs into one after a while. After everything that happened, we sort of lost track of time. We wandered to Haven. We wandered all over the place actually." Jaune's eyes glazed over. They'd spent so long searching for answers, he could barely remember it all. "But that doesn't matter anymore. We succeeded, in the end. We lost some more people along the way, good people. Maybe they're with you, I don't know." Jaune sighed heavily. "I hope I will be."

The gunshots sounded again. Grimm were still here in large numbers. It was the source of so much pain after all. Hunters and huntresses had their work cut out trying to reclaim it. But hopefully they'd succeed. Vale was worth it after all, its location providing so many benefits to their survival. Jaune sighed again. There was so much noise. Loud, single shots rang out, clearly fighting hard. Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"It's been hard Pyrrha. Since... Cinder, since Beacon, we've been fighting so much. And every time we fought, every time we drew our weapons... we missed you. I... missed you. And the way you left... I was angry for so long. I know why you did it, I just wish you hadn't. And the..." Jaune's cheeks tinged red. "...the kiss. I spoke to Ren and Nora, told them about it. Nora cried a little, but she was smiling the whole time. 'Finally!' she said. 'It took her long enough.' Ren was nodding, and even Ruby was giggling a little bit. They told me you'd felt like that for a long time, that I was a little oblivious. I guess I was. And I'm sorry. Maybe if I'd realised sooner, I... I could have stopped you. Maybe things wouldn't have worked, maybe we would have failed, but at least we'd have failed together, right?"

Jaune smacked his head back against the rock, before looking back to the circlet.

"But I guess that's being selfish. Every time I see more people, more refugees, I realise that without you doing what you did, they might not have gotten out. Without you fighting, Ruby might not have been able to stop the dragon. Without you... dying... we..." Jaune's voice cracked. "Without you, we might have failed. So I guess I can't be selfish. But I want to be. I want to be so much. So many times, I just wanted to stop. To crawl into a hole and never leave.

"But I had to keep going. I had to for Ren and Nora. They needed me to be strong, and I couldn't give up. They needed me. Ruby needed me, and she was so good. She helped so much, she was always there. But I needed to be strong for her too, and Yang, and Weiss, and Blake when they all finally came back. I didn't want to be, but I had to. And when they got hurt, it got ever harder. But we made it. We won... It doesn't feel like winning though. It just feels like losing. Badly. I don't know if they're ever going to be as happy as we were. I know I won't."

The gunshots were louder now, and sounded like they were coming from the bottom of the tower. Jaune looked at Crocea Mors, before pulling the blade out, and staring at it in his hand.

"I trained a lot as well. While we were searching. I know you'd probably be happy about that. I got a lot better. But mostly I trained because it made me think of you. I used to do all these mock fights against you, like we used to. It helped, a lot. It wasn't the same, but it definitely helped me keep going. Stopped me giving up.

"But I don't really have those any more. Not since we won."

Jaune slowly stood up. He turned the circlet over once more, before gently setting it on top of the rock, to watch vigil from the tower.

"I had to come here Pyrrha. I wanted to see you again. I hope I'll see you soon."

He walked slowly back to the edge. Crocea Mors was held across one shoulder. Jaune peered out over Vale, gunshots ringing out, flashes of bright light in the distance. People fighting for their lives. Down below, he could see grimm. On one of the rooftops in the distance, he could see a lone figure, standing there. Probably trying to get some respite from the creatures below. As they dropped back down to the streets below, he turned back to the circlet.

"I came back to see you. But for now..." Jaune turned forwards again, and gave a final, heavy, tremulous sigh. "I guess this is goodbye."

Jaune stepped off the edge of the tower.

* * *

Ruby ducked and weaved, Crescent Rose a blur as she spun it about her, like it weighed as much as a feather. Sometimes it was hard to tell which was moving more, she or the blade. But every movement cut the grimm that were attacking her, hacking off limbs and heads with impunity, impaling the creatures desperate to maim... to kill. Here, a Beowolf was bisected, there an Ursa stabbed through the middle, Creeps and Griffons cut to ribbons.

Ruby would be wading through corpses in her attempt to reach the tower, were they not disappearing as fast as she could make them. In a moment of respite, as another wave was decimated, she caught her breath. She looked up at what was once a symbol of hope for so many. But it was also where she'd failed to save one of her friends. And while she had finally forgiven herself, she would never forget the time that she was too slow. And neither would Jaune, even if he only ever blamed himself.

Though they'd lost a lot of friends along the way, Pyrrha was the one that had hit them the hardest, because after Penny, she'd been the first. And while Penny had eventually come back to them, like she'd hoped from the beginning, Pyrrha never could.

And now to be back here, after so long, it was almost too much. When she'd realised Jaune had left the camp they set up, Ruby knew where he would go, and she had to follow.

But unlike Jaune, her stealth had never really improved. She supposed that being quiet in one aspect meant you could learn to be quiet in other ways as well. Ren had always been pretty good at not drawing attention to himself, although he was never really the luckiest amongst them, sometimes wandering across larger grimm simply by mistake.

But no, Ruby had never had a talent for that. It was either fight, or go so fast they couldn't catch her.

And Ruby was not in the mood for running.

Clacking noises came from behind her. She groaned, knowing what that meant. Turning around, she saw a huge Deathstalker approaching. Ever since her first encounter, she'd always been a little wary of them, as they were still one of the only grimm that tended to give her difficulties. She couldn't pierce the armour very well, and Crescent Rose wasn't good for blunt work. Yang or Nora would have had no real trouble, as they could just use sheer force to fracture the shell, and break through. Blake would have been agile enough to find the weak points, and Weiss' glyphs could have done a lot of damage, but Ruby was best against unarmoured opponents.

Ruby got ready to attack. Her best bet was to remove the massive stinger, but this grimm was big. One of the biggest Deathstalkers she'd seen, and that meant it was old. And old grimm were old for a very good reason.

She launched herself over the lower pincer, but it already had the second much higher, knowing what she'd try. She bounced back with a grunt. This was going to be difficult. First she'd have to hit all its other weak points, like the joints in its legs. From there, hit what she could. She planted Crescent Rose into the ground to try and land a few shots on its eyes, but the grimm covered itself well, and her shots did little. As Ruby grit her teeth, and prepared herself for another assault, she was distracted by movement from above. Something was falling. No.

 _Someone_ was falling. Ruby's eyes went wide.

"JAUNE NO!"

She looked away as he was almost to the ground, and closed her eyes. There was a loud crack.

Followed by a much louder screech.

As Ruby opened her wet eyes, she was sure of what she'd see.

 _"Hey Ren."_

 _Ren opened his eyes. He'd been sitting peacefully. The others assumed he was meditating seriously, but really he was just gathering his thoughts in a moment of peace, rather than trying to achieve the true calm needed for that. These days, it was much harder to focus enough to do so. He had too much on his mind. As he turned to Jaune, he was thinking he wasn't the only one._

 _"Hey Jaune. How is training going for you?"_

 _"Better than I was expecting." Jaune took a seat on a log near the stoic boy, hands folded into his lap. Ren thought he looked troubled as he looked off into the distance, but when wasn't he? When weren't they all? "Ren, can I ask you a favour?"_

 _"Of course Jaune. What is it?"_

 _"In all the time Pyrrha and I trained, it was almost always with weapons, and trying to provoke my semblance. Which was great, but it wasn't the only thing I needed." Jaune looked at Ren again. "I need to train with my aura. I've seen so many hunters use it for great things, and I know I need to learn how to use it if I'm ever going to fight well. To protect other people, and stop them from doing what they did to Pyrrha to anyone else. You're the best I know. Nora told me how you killed a King Taijitu with your bare hands. Will you help me?"_

 _Ren was quiet for a moment. He'd noticed that Jaune was starting to say Pyrrha's name more now, and with less stuttering. He thought about what Ruby had said about Jaune's self training, and how it was helping him grieve. Ren looked into Jaune's eyes, and smiled._

 _"Of course, Jaune. You know aura can be used to improve our weapons, cushion blows, and increase our strength amongst other things. But before I can show you that, you must first learn to control it. Shall we begin?"_

 _Jaune gave a smile back._

 _"Thanks, Ren."_

Ruby was shocked to see she was wrong. And more than a little astonished.

There, on the carapace of the Deathstalker, was Jaune. He was crouched on its back, down on one knee, as it writhed in obvious pain. The source was immediately clear to her.

Embedded halfway to the hilt was Crocea Mors' blade. Cracks in the armour spread out from the sword. The blade, Jaune's hands wrapped around its handle, and his feet, were glowing a bright white. As the Deathstalker shuddered, its tailed lunged forward to try and remove the threat.

Jaune batted it aside with his shield, and as he did so, smashed his fist into the side of the golden stinger with his hands still glowing. They connected with a resounding crack, the Deathstalker giving another screech. The stinger was now hanging loosely, but before it could swing back, Jaune used his shield to bash his sword all the way to the cross guard.

The Deathstalker went quiet. It wobbled precariously for a bit, before collapsing to the ground, unmoving.

"Hey Ruby. I was just dropping by."

Ruby stared, open mouthed, as Jaune returned his shield, in sheath form, back to his side. He gripped the sword with both hands.

"What is it, exactly, with you and f-" Jaune grunted as he wrenched the sword out of the already-decaying form of the Deathstalker. "-king Deathstalkers?"

Without waiting for an answer, Jaune sliced at the weakened part of the tail, catching the stinger in one hand. His arm trembled at the huge weight, which without his aura, he wouldn't even be able to move, let alone hold.

"If these things didn't disappear, we could be rich." Jaune sighed, as the gold began to turn to yellow ash. "Oh well."

As the last of the hulking corpse began to fade, Jaune hopped down, and turned back to Ruby.

In a blur of petals, she launched into a hug, and Jaune barely stopped himself from falling backwards.

"Don't ever scare me like that again!" She sobbed into his shoulder. Ruby had grown a lot since she'd started, her head now easily clearing Jaune's chin.

"Woah, easy there. I wasn't in any danger." Jaune put his arm around her. "Everything's fine."

Ruby looked back up at him.

"But I didn't know that! I didn't know about this, I... I thought..." she whimpered. Realisation dawned on his face, and he put his arm on her shoulder.

"I know. But I made you a promise, a long time ago. One I don't intend to break." Jaune looked up at Beacon tower once again, its ruins still causing him to feel anguish... but also hope. "And it's not over yet." Jaune ruffled her hair, before turning out to the city across the courtyard. Red eyes glared in the dark.

"And until they're all gone, it never will be."

Jaune looked back to Ruby, smiling. She returned it, with damp eyes. He was getting there, she thought, bit by bit. He may never truly get past the events of the Fall, but he was going to be fine. She knew it.

"So let's keep moving."

* * *

 **So frankly, this whole thing started because I wanted Jaune to do a superhero landing. Well, that and have a somewhat meaningful monologue to Pyrrha, though that last part probably didn't happen. But considering this is the first piece of fiction I've done, not including the stuff I was forced to do at school half a decade ago, I'm hoping it hasn't gone too badly.**


End file.
